Insanity Workout Review: Good for OCS?

What is Insanity?

The Good

When you work out at home, there’s less time wasted and fewer hurdles to getting your workout in, so you probably will stick to the program better.

Insanity basically ensures you have superb cardio by the end! The level of intensity you will achieve will be off the charts compared to most civilian workouts.

Insanity is known for being…insane! Shaun T is a very motivating teacher and will help break many people’s mental barriers. The mental toughness of Insanity is a very important benefit for the future Marine officer.

The Bad

It is expensive new, and would require more room than some college dorms, but generally is attainable for most participants.

Where’s the strength and resistance training? With all the plyometrics, legs have a chance to grow, but muscle-building and weight training takes a back seat to burning off calories.

One Candidate’s Review:

I thought it works really well for cardio. It is fast paced and works you from the moment you start until you end. Breaks are kept to a minimum (usually under 20 seconds) and you almost never stay still. My main/only complaint (in my experience) is you plateau on it pretty quickly though. It doesn’t hold a candle to something like a hard Fartlek run but it is a good stand alone cardio workout. –John Puller

The Bottom Line: Should I Get Insanity?

For the moderately fit candidate

Insanity is too incomplete of a workout to properly prepare for the full gamut of physical stresses at OCS. Insanity’s cardio standards are top-notch, but that cardio skill comes at the expense of a well-rounded workout program. The whole point of Insanity is to burn the maximum number of calories at the maximum level of intensity. How can you have a full workout with no pullup bar or ammo can pressing?

Click to see the INSANITY Workout DVDs on Amazon

Actually, if you’re overweight:

For the future candidate needing to lose a lot of weight, Insanity could be a good first workout. You could lose the extra weight, and get to a strong baseline cardio level to focus on the pre-ship PFT and the OCS workouts.